I had a bad experience with Hospiten over the weekend. So I thought I'd share and let you know about a potential scam - this could catch out a lot of unwary tourists as well as locals. I went to emergency with pains in my right side and an allergic rash. After waiting almost 2 hours for the emergency lab assistant to arrive to take my blood and start the lab work (funny how a nurse doesn't seem to be able to take blood here) they took my blood and started the lab work. The results were quite fast. It seems that they had performed a whole battery of tests - probably eveything they could think of and definitely more than the symptoms called for. Doctor Ricardo Noe Lopez Plata pored over the results for at least 10 seconds and concluded that I had Dengue ... "probably". And he recommended that I be hospitalized immediately for observation. Strange I thought, I don't even have a fever... So I declined the offer of bed and breakfast and paid my bill of $282 which mainly seemed to consist of overinflated lab tests - but hey it was an emergency... and said I would be back if I started hemorrhaging from all orifices. Next day I went to our family doctor who checked me over and laughed at the battery tests they performed, and read the doctors report ("I can't believe he put it in writing!"). Apparently they'd performed a lot of unnecessary tests - actually they'd performed almost every test available except the all important Dengue test. The clincher being that they'd recommended hospitalization. No doubt at some stage they would have performed the Dengue test and then sent me home with a hospital bill to pay too. According to our family doc, this a common tactic at Hospiten. The worst cases are those of tourists where the Hotels and everyone in the chain get kickbacks from the hospital to make sure you arrive at Hospiten. Anyway I would avoid them. Oh the place is spotlessly clean and by all appearances is a reputable hospital.
Thats a shame. I've always heard good things about that hospital. Perhaps you should take a trip to the PROFECO office and lodge a complaint.
That's scary! (Glad to know you are okay though ) So where is the best place to go if we are in need of a hospital?
hospiten I have only been in Cancun for a couple of months, but have gotten to know alot of doctors and hospitals, I also have heard this about hospiten, I can't speak for other hospitals but I am an ER doc at Galenia and can assure you that the staff here are very professional and honest. There are some lab tests that need to be run, but you never mentioned a fever which is the 1st and foremost symptom of dengue. I am sorry about your experience but I am here to help with these type of situations, PROFECO sounds like an option, alot of bull and paperwork but if enough of mistreated patient scream maybe someone will listen.
In defense of Hospiten we had both of our babies there and found them to be extremely professional, reasonably priced, clean and very personable. Additionally after Wilma we took our babies there as they had rashes etc. They looked them over for free in the emergency room. I am sorry what happened to you but, would have no problem recommending them to anyone.
Galenia I've also heard good things about Galenia from our family doc who works there. I'll believe it when I see it. I'm sure I'll need another hospital one day. Probably sooner than I want one.
Not to shed more black clouds on Hospiten but yesterday a couple from New Zealand went there and while the wife was sedated and the husband was in the waiting room she was robbed, her wedding ring and other objects(of which were not noted in the article) were stolen. The couple decided not to follow through with any charges since they were on vacation and we all know how long a process this would be......I'm sure at every hospital someone has a bad experience, but the staff stealing from a sedated patient goes WAY beyond anything I've ever heard of in a hospital...So keep track of your things anywhere and everywhere you go and if you find yourself needing a hospital go somewhere else.
ambulences??? That's just awful about that couple and being robbed at the hospital!? I've heard good and bad things about hospitals in Cancun. But I've been reading some really scary things about ambulances scamming foreigners from hotels? overcharging, not having proper equipment and taking forever to get to hospitals in Playa and cancun? even saying they ran out of gas! Its hard to know if this is real or not? Anyone else heard these things?
